Touches You

Too much of everything

Crappy film

The acting in this movie is really good.

When a Man Loves a Woman (1994) ** (out of 4)Michael and Alice Green (Andy Garcia, Meg Ryan) have what appears to be the perfect marriage. They have a great house, great jobs and they have everything that anyone could ever want. From the outside everything seems to be perfect but inside the walls they are dealing with the fact that Alice is an alcoholic.WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN is a well-meaning drama that had a huge impact on my life because it taught me what the term "Oscar bait" was. In case you don't know, Oscar bait is pretty much a movie that is made that hopes desperately to pick up Oscar attention for either a star or a filmmaker. In this case, it was Meg Ryan who tried to change her clean image and show that should could play a challenging role.It paid off because she did get an Oscar-nomination and rightfully so as her performance here is certainly a great one. However, the problem is that the movie is just rather routine and it never really rises above something you'd see on Lifetime. The problem is certainly the screenplay, which appears to follow a textbook on other films that deal with this subject. You've got the great life. You've got the ugly truth. You've got very ugly moments. You've got the destruction. You then have the redemption.The problem with WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN is that everything happens just as you'd expect it to and there really wasn't any shocks or real drama. Yes, it's heartbreaking to see what the characters are going through but there's just not too much of an emotional pull. Garcia was extremely good in the role of the husband who is trying to keep everything from crumbling down. As I said, Ryan is extremely good and proves that she could do a more challenging role.

I've always appreciated this film for its honest look at how insidious alcoholism is and how it devastates those around the addict. I watched it again on a lazy Saturday afternoon and, despite its flaws, its an excellent film and a great look at how alcoholism is a family disease.Meg Ryan's Alice is an alcoholic in a comfortable though unhealthy marriage with Andy Garcia's Michael, an enabler and rescuer. Alice hits rock bottom and heads off to detox. The family struggles while she is away, but still struggles when Alice gets back and fights to stay clean and sober. This is one of the greatest strengths of the film. Becoming sober is not the hard part. Staying sober is. Learning to live life sober is incredibly challenging.Meg Ryan gives a masterful performance in this. However, on re-viewing, I really appreciated the nuances of Andy Garcia's performance. Michael clearly finds meaning in helping and fixing all the problems around him. However, when Alice is sober and he finds he doesn't need to rescue her anymore, he is lost, angry, disappointed, and hurt. His speech at the Al Anon meeting when he admits that he feels pain seeing his wife doing so well without his help is powerful. The child actresses are great, particularly Tina Majorino. I wish they would have delved a bit more into how mom's alcoholism affected the kids. Also, Michael's speech at the very end is cringeworthy, sugarcoating what is otherwise an honest and very real portrayal of addiction and recovery.

In my 40 years of active involvement with recovery programs for family members either addicted to alcohol, or adversely affected by someone else's drinking, this movie 'tells it like it is' better than the majority of other movies I've seen that dealt with similar issues - "I'll Cry Tomorrow'(Susan Hayward),'Days of Wine and Roses'(Lee Remick/Jack Lemmon), 'Bill's Story' (James Gardner) and the Hallmark production of "Love is Never Enough" (Lois Wilson story) left a lot out of the real impact of physical, emotional, psychological and social abuse or damage suffered by alcoholic relationships. This movie depicted a superb example of the pain, confusion, guilt, denial and resistance to change by both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic . . . and the damaging impact to the children and other close associates. The acting by the cast, and especially the children, was phenomenal. The mention and portrayal of an Al-Anon Family Group meeting for the family being affected by either the actively drinking or the new sobriety of an alcoholic was well revealed for the viewer. The final scene was the only part that was 'out of character' for an AA or Al-Anon person at a meeting. All else was 'on target'. 'Thanks for letting me share.' V

There are times when seeing a quality film for the second time that it does not stack up as well as it did the first time it was viewed. More often, I enjoy the film a little more on the second viewing due to being able to pick up certain subtle aspects that were not as evident on the first go around and on a few occasions, I find a film much more rewarding, as was the case with this particular film. I saw the film in the theater when it was originally released and although I thought it was a fairly good film and the performances by the two stars, Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia, were of a high quality, I was somewhat disappointed in the overall production. It may have been related to my having anticipated a romance that was not based on as much heart-ache and depressing circumstances.I saw it again recently, slightly over a decade later, and was able to view it from a slightly different perspective. The material, dealing with alcohol addiction, is not ground-breaking but is presented in a slightly unique fashion. The film depicts the downward spiral of the addicted woman, but also examines all the tragic consequences forced upon those closest to her. It involves the audience in the tragic and depressing situations that are imposed on the spouse, children, family and friends of the person with the addiction. It has a somewhat unique aspect, in that it examines how those closest to the alcoholic can inadvertently contribute to the problem while attempting to help their loved one recover from the addiction. Although they may have the best of intentions, they can sometimes magnify the conditions related to the problem.I think an IMDb rating of between 4 and 9 would seem appropriate for this intense emotionally charged drama. I personally gave it a 7 out of 10 and would highly recommend it for viewers that are not in the market for light or humorous entertainment.